Recreating 18th century Lucknow when the city of Nawabs throbbed with the tinkling of ghungroos, the strains of the sarangi and courtesans who would turn gloomy evenings into beautiful musical soirees, all those delicate hints of eroticism and more was brought to life by danseuse Manjari Chaturvedi, in an Awadhi kathak performance at Kamani Auditorium on Friday. Titled Naazo, the evening was an ode to that courtesan, who disappeared with the demise of traditional kingdoms and princely India. “With that the dance form and the traditional singing also sort of faded away. I did some research to come up with this presentation,” said Chaturvedi, 35. The dance did transform the stage into the durbar of a Mughal king, accompanied with the enticing melodies sung by the legendary Zareena Begum, now 75, and the last living court singer who used to sing in the courts of Awadh. The other ghazals were sung by Radhika Chopra and Noor-Ul-Hassan.

The performance began with ghazal Khurez Karishma Naazo Sitam, followed by the Krishna Raas. “This was the dance performed in front of Muslim rulers where a Nawab himself dressed as Krishna,” explained Chaturvedi. After that came an ode to Lucknow and then the Shringar Ras which was about the almost extinct art of ‘baithak thumri’, that conjured up the mood and mystery of the old Indian haveli and palaces in which courtesans performed. It ended with a despairing air of finality with Naazo, in the throes of a dramatic emotional outburst, twirling madly to the music and concluding it all by the traditional courtesan salaami.